ADIA is the peak business organisation representing manufacturers and suppliers of dental products. Our vision is for an industry that empowers oral health professionals to advance the health and wellbeing of all Australians......................— ADIA Strategic Plan

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Code of Practice — 2017 Revised version for comment

The Australian Dental Industry Association (ADIA) publishes a code of practice that seeks to preserve independent decision-making by healthcare professionals by ensuring that it is not compromised by inappropriate promotion. A revised version of the ADIA Code of Practicehas now been prepared and comments are now being sought on the proposed version.

The proposed version of the ADIA Code of Practicehas been drafted in a fashion that ensures the obligations of dental product suppliers are clear to all stakeholders in the dental community. The changes are based upon feedback from ADIA member businesses, the dental profession plus consumer groups and has been drafted in a way that ensures the Australian Government’s expectations of ADIA and its members are upheld.

ADIA is seeking advice as to whether the intent of the proposed revision of the ADIA Code of Practice is clear and therefore the expectations of member businesses are clearly understood. The following outlines some of the outcomes of the document:

Businesses Covered By The Code: The code will apply to any ADIA member business and any business exhibiting at an exhibition managed by ADIA.

Activities Covered By The Code: The revised ADIA Code of Practice will apply to sales and promotional activities associated with therapeutic products that includes instruments, equipment, restorative materials with the definition of "therapeutic products" being that found in the Therapeutic Goods Act (Cth) 1989. This includes all products on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) maintained by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and custom-made medical devices.

Administrative Arrangements: There are some changes to the administrative arrangements to the way complaints and appeals are dealt with which are being made to expedite consideration of complaints.

This proposed revision of the ADIA Code of Practice more closely aligns with the codes of the eight other industry associations in the therapeutic products sector, with each code sharing a common set of high-level principles common to each industry association’s code. These codes, along with ADIA's, were developed in response to an Australian Government requirement that the entire Australian therapeutic products industry promotes the concept of good health incorporating the quality use of therapeutic products based on genuine consumer health needs and supported by the ethical conduct of all parties.

The Consultation Process —

ADIA members and other stakeholders from the dental community, in addition to consumer groups, are invited to provide comment on this proposed version of the ADIA Code of Practice. Comment is particularly sought were the wording and / or compliance obligations are not clear.

Comments should be received by the ADIA National Office by Friday, 28 April 2017, and can be sent to membership@adia.org.au.

All comments will be considered by the ADIA-CAC Code Administration Committee which will forward a final draft to the ADIA Board of Directors at its meeting to be held in late May 2017. It is expected that the ADIA membership will then be asked to vote on the changes at the annual general meeting shortly thereafter.

The primary objective of the ADIA Code of Practice is to build and maintain the trust and confidence of, and accountability to, all communities with which the dental industry engages. The effectiveness of these efforts is assessed through the eyes of the relevant community that includes not only dental product manufactuers and suppliers, but also dentists and allied oral healthcare professionals in addition to patients.

Member Engagement —

The ADIA-CAC Code Administration Committee is tasked with reviewing the code and reporting annually on code practices and it reviews the outcome of each complaint to determine what revisions to the Code may be required to ensure that it continues to reflect community, industry and regulatory standards and values.

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